1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network linking one or more servers and a plurality of network terminals which function on a basic software set downloaded from the server and are used for remotely operating the application software stored in the servers, and also relates to a network terminal used for the network.
2. Discussion of the Background
Network terminals, such as a dumb terminal, WBT (Windows-Based Terminal) and NC (Network Computer), which are linked to servers in a network, function on a basic software set downloaded from a server, and are used to remotely operate the application software on the servers and to perform various types of processing on the server side, are conventionally used.
These conventional network terminals do not have application software stored in them, and have only a basic software set, such as an OS (Operating System) or display software, minimum software needed at each network terminal to use the application software in a server by remote operation, stored in the memory. The basic software set necessary for this purpose differs according to the OS of the server in which application software is used. Therefore, a basic software set specific to each server is stored in each server and downloaded from the server in which the application software is stored each time when switching occurs on the network terminal or the basic software set is replaced with another.
Conventional network terminals thus require neither a hard-disk drive nor a high-speed CPU, and hence a network can be formed at a low cost. Moreover, the application software used on a network can be updated by simply updating the application software stored in the servers, and hence the management of a network system becomes easier. For these reasons, the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) of a network can be substantially reduced.
However, in the above-described conventional network, network terminals are individually switched off by operating the power switch provided on each network terminal. Therefore, there is a problem that this takes much time and is very troublesome to switch off all terminals on a network when a large number of network terminals are connected to that network.
An object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily switch off a plurality of network terminals in a network without causing problems on the servers.
The present invention provides a network linking together one or more servers and a plurality of network terminals which function on a basic software set downloaded from a server and are used for remotely operating the application software stored in the servers, wherein
each server can send a switch-off command to all network terminal simultaneously, and
after receiving the switch-off command, each of the network terminals checks whether the basic software set being used on the network terminal requires disconnection from the corresponding server prior to switch-off in order to prevent problems caused by the switch-off and then switches off the power after disconnection if the basic software set requires disconnection, or otherwise switches off the power immediately without disconnection.
The present invention also provides a network terminal connected to one or more servers via a network which functions on a basic software set downloaded from the server, is used to remotely operate the application software on the server, and is capable of receiving a switch-off command from the server, comprising
a switch-off means for checking whether the basic software set currently used on the network terminal requires disconnection from the corresponding server prior to switch-off in order to prevent problems caused by switch-off and then switch-off the power after disconnection if the basic software set requires disconnection, or otherwise switch-off the power immediately without disconnection in response to a switch-off command sent from a server.
According to the present invention, it becomes possible to switch off all network terminals simultaneously from a server without causing problems if some or all network terminals are using the basic software sets that can cause problems if the power is switched off without the disconnection before switch-off. Further, it is also possible to quickly switch off the network terminals which are not using the basic software sets that require the disconnection.
This network terminal preferably has a memory capable of storing a plurality of basic software sets downloaded from the servers and retaining the basic software sets when the network terminal is switched off, and
loader software originally stored in the memory and performing functions including receiving a plurality of basic software sets downloaded from the servers and storing the basic software sets in the memory, and running one of the basic software sets stored in the memory determined according to a predetermined method or selected by a predetermined selection operation.
The memory for storing the basic software sets downloaded from the servers is preferably flash memory.
By these configuration, it becomes possible to quickly and easily provide each network terminal with a necessary basic software set without downloading it each time the network terminal is started or using the application software in a different server.